Kenneth Kaunda the founding father of Zambia after independence has passed away at a military hospital in Lusaka where he was being treated for pneumonia. He was 97 years of age.
The news about his death was first confirmed by his son, Kambarage, on Thursday, June 17th via Facebook, where he wrote;
“I am sad to inform (members) we have lost Mzee. Let’s pray for him,” Mr Kambarage said on the late president’s Facebook page.
The former president of Zambia had been feeling unwell for a while and was admitted to the Maina Soko Medical Centre in Lusaka earlier this week, where he was taking medication.
In an address on public television, Cabinet Secretary Simon Miti said that Kaunda died peacefully” at 2:30 p.m. (1230 GMT), declaring 21 days of national mourning, in which flags will fly at half-mast and ordered all forms of entertainment suspended.
Kenneth Kaunda began his political career while serving as the organising secretary for the Northern Rhodesia African National Congress (ANC) in the Northern Province of Zambia. In 1958 he left the ANC to create the Zambian African National Congress (ZANC), despite opposition from colonial authorities which banned his party. This led to Kaunda being imprisoned in Lusaka for nine months.
ZANC became the United Party for National Development (UNIP) in 1959 and after Kenneth Kaunda was released from prison a year later, he was elected president of UNIP.
However, in 1991, he lost power during the presidential elections to Fredrick Chiluba from the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD).
One of his favourite quotes is “I can never sell out Africa, not me, never”.
PICTURES OF LATE KENNETH KAUNDA WITH OTHER LEGENDS
